Region | Palestinian Territories
Rice assured that Israel-Palestine peace talks will continue
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she received assurances from Israeli and Palestinian leaders on Wednesday that they would resume their negotiations, suspended after the Israeli offensive in Gaza last week.
- Agencies
- Published: 18:08 March 5, 2008
- Image Credit: Reuters
- US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
Occupied Jerusalem: US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she received assurances from Israeli and Palestinian leaders on Wednesday that they would resume their negotiations, suspended after the Israeli offensive in Gaza last week.
Rice said, "I've been informed by the parties that they intend to resume the negotiations and that they are in contact with one another as to how to bring this about."
At a joint press conference with Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, Rice gave no timeframe for a resumption of the talks but said Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas had not conditioned the talks on reaching a ceasefire in Gaza.
Asked about Abbas's comments earlier in the day that the continuation of the talks hinged on reaching a "calm" in Gaza, Rice said the Palestinian president would like to see an end to violence, but added, "This is not a condition."
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